One corner dropped? A lift cable probably gave way.
A door that hangs lower at one corner is usually a cable problem. Unplug the opener, keep everyone out of the opening and send a picture of that corner by text. Plan on about an hour for the repair.
- On site: About 1 hour
- License CGC15***68
Signs this is your problem
- The bottom edge of the door slants, leaving a wedge of daylight at one corner.
- A cable hangs loose or lies curled on the floor beside the track.
- The cable at a bottom corner looks frayed, rusty or thin.
- The door jolted to a stop partway and now won't go up or down.
- A spring broke at the same time; slack cables often come with it.
- Rollers on the low side are coming out of the track: see door off track.
Finding why it let go
Before anyone touches a cable, the door gets clamped in the track and the springs are unwound. With the load off, the tech looks for the reason it failed: rust at a bottom bracket, a drum with a worn groove or a cracked flange, a spring that lost its tension, or something the door came down on. New cables go on as a pair and are set to equal tension, so the bottom edge meets the floor evenly. Then the door runs several times and gets a balance check by hand before the tech packs up.
Garages that took on water
The spot where each cable ties to its bottom bracket is the lowest steel on the door, and it's the first to rust when water sits in the garage. If yours took water during Ian, or lets rain in every summer between mid-May and mid-October, those two corners deserve a look.
Once a month in the rainy season, shine a flashlight on them. Look, don't touch: a frayed cable is still carrying the door.
Leave the cables to the tech
A cable under tension can slice a hand, and the bottom bracket it's tied to carries the same load. Don't loosen the bolts on the bottom corners, don't try to rewind a cable onto its drum, and don't run the opener to straighten the door. A door that drops on one side can bend a section or leave the track, and that turns a cable job into a bigger one.
Questions about cable repair
No. A pair of cables takes about an hour with the tech. A rusted bottom bracket or a cracked drum adds a little time, and it's on the written price before the work begins.
No. On one cable the door rises crooked, binds in the tracks and can drop hard on the loose side. Unplug the opener, keep people and cars clear, and call.
The usual causes are rust at a bottom corner, where rain and humidity sit, or a spring that lost tension and let the cable go slack. The tech will show you which one it was.
Tell us what the door is doing
A person answers, day or night. Describe the door or text a photo, and you'll hear what it probably is, how long the fix takes and when a truck can get to you.